Ecosystem changes in the Egyptian saline Lake Qarun during the XX–XXI centuries (short review)

E.V. Anufrieva, G.M. El-Shabrawy and N.V. Shadrin

Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, 2016, 320(3): 250–261 · https://doi.org/10.31610/trudyzin/2016.320.3.250

Full text

Abstract

Since beginning of the 20th century the salinity growth in Lake Qarun (Egypt) accelerated. Changes in the specific structure of plankton and benthos have been observed. Three stages of biotic changes may be separated. The salinity change determined biodiversity transformation only until 1928. Due to natural causes new species invasions – marginal marine (Cerastoderma glaucum, etc.) and halotolerant lacustrine (Arctodiaptomus salinus, Moina salina, etc.) – occurred, reducing the diversity and abundance of freshwater forms. Because of the growth of salinity the certain species of fish began to disappear in the lake. Catch of fish has fallen sharply, affecting the standard of living of the local population on the shores of the lake. To improve the situation, in 1928, people started to introduce the young marine fishes and crustaceans. Some species of introduced animals began to breed successfully, but not all, so the fry of some species of fish are transported annually from the sea into the lake. The second stage of the biotic transformation in the lake started, when the mass directed and accidental marine aquatic organism introduction by people was the main reason. The flow of marine species increased, halotolerant lacustrine species have disappeared, and the maritime community has formed. In 1950–1970s, intensive eutrophication began; it and alien species anthropogenic introduction have become the driving forces of the ecosystem changes. In the next decades, the main causes of changes in community structure will be eutrophication, pollution and aliens, especially jellyfish Mnemiopsis leidyi, invaded the lake in 2014.

Key words

Egypt, saline lakes, long-term change, alien species, eutrophication

Submitted January 13, 2016 · Accepted June 28, 2016 · Published September 23, 2016

References

Abbaspour M., Javid A.H., Mirbagheri S.A., Ahmadi F.G. and Moghimi P. 2012. Investigation of lake drying attributed to climate change. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 9(2): 257–266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-012-0031-0

Abd Ellah R.G. 2009. Outlook on past, present and future status of water salinity in Lake Qarun, Egypt. World Journal of Fish and Marine Sciences, 1(1): 51–55.

Abdel-Malek S.A. and Ishak M.M. 1980. Some ecological aspects of Lake Qarun, Fayum, Egypt. Part II: production of plankton and benthic organisms. Hydrobiologia, 75(3): 201–208. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00006483

Abdel-Satar A.M., Goher M.E. and Sayed M.F. 2010. Recent Environmental changes in water and sediment quality of Lake Qarun, Egypt. Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science, 5(2): 56–69. https://doi.org/10.3923/jfas.2010.56.69

Abou El-Geit E.N., Saad T.T., Abdo M.H. and Mona S.Z. 2013. Microbial infections among some fishes and crustacean species during blooming phenomenon in Qarun Lake-Egypt. Life Science Journal, 10(2): 1217–1224.

Abu-Zied R.H., Keatings K., Flower R.J. and Leng M.J. 2011. Benthic foraminifera and their stable isotope composition in sediment cores from Lake Qarun, Egypt: changes in water salinity during the past ~500 years. Journal of Paleolimnology, 45: 167–182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-010-9489-2

Ahmed N.K. 1994. Ecological studies on zooplankton in Lake Qarun, Fayum Egypt. MS thesis. Cairo University, Cairo, 167 p.

Aladin N.V. and Plotnikov I.S. 2008. Modern fauna of residual water bodies formed on the place of the former Aral Sea. Proceedings of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 312(1/2): 145–154. [In Russian].

Amarouayache M., Derbal F. and Kara M.H. 2012. Note on the carcinological fauna associated with Artemia salina (Branchiopoda, Anostraca) from Sebkha Ez-Zemoul (northeast Algeria). Crustaceana, 85(2): 129–137. https://doi.org/10.1163/156854012X623728

Anneville O., Molinero J.C., Souissi S., Balvay G. and Gerdeaux D. 2007. Long-term changes in the copepod community of Lake Geneva. Journal of Plankton Research, 29 (Suppl. 1): i49–i59. https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbl066

Anufriieva E.V. 2014. Crustaceans in Crimean hypersaline waters: fauna, ecology, distribution. Abstract of the PhD thesis in Biological Science. A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas, Sevastopol, 23 p. [In Russian].

Anufriieva E.V. and Shadrin N.V. 2014. Factors determining the average body size of geographically separated Arctodiaptomus salinus (Daday, 1885) populations. Zoological Research, 35(2): 132–141.

Authman M.M.N. and Abbas H.H.H. 2007. Accumulation and distribution of copper and zinc in both water and some vital tissues of two fish species (Tilapia zillii and Mugil cephalus) of Lake Qarun, Fayoum province, Egypt. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences, 10(13): 2106–2122. https://doi.org/10.3923/pjbs.2007.2106.2122

Baioumy H.M., Kayanne H. and Tada R. 2010. Reconstruction of lake-level and climate changes in Lake Qarun, Egypt, during the last 7000 years. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 36(2): 318–327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2010.03.004

Ball J. 1939. Contribution to the geography of Egypt. Government press, Cairo, 308 p.

Brown R.H. 1892. The Fayum and Lake Moeris. Edward Stanford, London, 110 p.

Caceres C.E. and Soluk D.A. 2002. Blowing in the wind: a field test of overland dispersal and colonization by aquatic invertebrates. Oecologia, 131(3): 402–408. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-002-0897-5

Canfield Jr. D.E., Bachmann R.W. and Hoyer M.V. 2000. A management alternative for Lake Apopka. Lake and Reservoir Management, 16(3): 205–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/07438140009353964

Cunnington W.A. and Boulenger C.L. 1907. Biological expedition to the Birket et Qurun. Nature, 76: 316. https://doi.org/10.1038/076316a0

Darwin C.R. 1991. The origin of species by means of natural selection: or, the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. Nauka, Saint Petersburg, 539 p. [In Russian].

El-Shabrawy G.M. 2001. Ecological studies on Rotifera in Lake Qarun, El-Fayoum, Egypt. Journal of the Egyptian Academic Society for Environment Development, (B. Aquaculture), 2: 1–18.

El-Shabrawy G.M. and Belmonte G. 2004. Abundance and affirmation of Paracartia latisetosa (Copepoda, Calanoida) in the inland Lake Qarun (Egypt). Thalassia Salentina, 27: 151–160.

El-Shabrawy G.M. and Dumont H.J. 2009. The Fayum Depression and its Lakes. In: H.J. Dumont (Ed.). The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae. Springer, Dordrecht: 95–124. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9726-3_6

El-Shabrawy G.M., Anufriieva E.V., Germoush M.O., Goher M.E. and Shadrin N.V. 2015. Does salinity change determine zooplankton variability in the saline Qarun Lake (Egypt)? Chinese Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, 33(6), 1368–1377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-015-4361-x

El-Zarka S. and Kamel F. 1965. Mullet fry transplantation and its contribution to the fisheries of inland brackish lake in the United Arab Republic. Proceedings of the General Fisheries Council of the Mediterranean, 8: 209–226.

EMISAL (Egyptian Company of Salts and Minerals). 1996. Qarun Lake, a base for an advanced chemical industry complex, investment opportunities based on salt extraction from Lake Qarun and the integrated industries based on it. Egyptian Salts and Minerals Co. Ltd., London, 28 p.

Faouzi H. 1936. Successful stocking of Lake Qarun with mullets. Internationale Revue der gesamten Hydrobiologie und Hydrographie, 33(4): 434–439. https://doi.org/10.1002/iroh.19360330403

Fathi A.A. and Flower R.J. 2005. Water quality and phytoplankton communities in Lake Qarun (Egypt). Aquatic Sciences, 67(3), 350–362. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-005-0777-2

Figuerola J., Green A.J. and Santamaria L. 2003. Passive internal transport of aquatic organisms by waterfowl in Donana, south-west Spain. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 12(5): 427–436. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1466-822X.2003.00043.x

Flower R.J., Stickley C., Rose N.L., Peglar S., Fathi A.A. and Appleby P.G. 2006. Environmental changes at the desert margin: an assessment of recent paleolimnological records in Lake Qarun, Middle Egypt. Journal of Paleolimnology, 35(1): 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-005-6393-2

Gardner E.W. 1932. Some lacustrine mollusca from the Faiyum depression: a study in variation. Memoires de I’Institut d’Egypte, 18: 1–123.

Gomoiu M.T., Alexandrov B., Shadrin N. and Zaitsev Y. 2002. The Black Sea – a recipient, donor and transit area for alien species. In: E. Leppakoski, S. Gollasch and S. Olenin (Eds). Invasive aquatic species of Europe. Distribution, impacts and management. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht: 341–350. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9956-6_35

Ishak M.M. and Abdel-Malek S.A. 1980. Some ecological aspects of Lake Qarun, Fayoum, Egypt. Part I. Physico-chemical environment. Hydrobiologia, 74(2): 173–178. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014569

Jenny J-P., Francus P., Normandeau A., Lapointe F., Perga M-E., Ojala A.E.K., Schimmelmann A. and Zolitschka B. 2015. Global spread of hypoxia in freshwater ecosystems during three centuries is caused by rising local human pressure. Global Change Biology, 22(4): 1481–1489. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13193

Jeppesen E., Kronvang B., Olesen J.E., Audet J., Søndergaard M., Hoffmann C.C., Andersen H.E., Lauridsen T.L., Liboriussen L., Larsen S.E., Beklioglu M., Meerhoff M., Ozen A. and Ozkan K. 2011. Climate change effects on nitrogen loading from cultivated catchments in Europe: implications for nitrogen retention, ecological state of lakes and adaptation. Hydrobiologia, 663(1): 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0547-6

Khalifa N. and El-Shabrawy G.M. 2007. Abundance and diversity of zooplankton in Lake Qarun, Egypt. The Journal of Egyptian Academic Society for Environmental Development, 8: 17–25.

Khlebovich V.V. 1974. Critical salinity of biological processes. Nauka, Leningrad, 235 p. [In Russian].

Khlebovich V.V. 2015. Presumption of the marine beginning in the animal physiology and ecology. Proceedings of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 319(4): 536–544. [In Russian].

Khomenko S.V. and Shadrin N.V. 2009. Iranian endemic Artemia urmiana in hypersaline Lake Koyashskoe (Crimea, Ukraine): a preliminary discussion of introduction by birds. Branta. Transaction of Azov-Black Sea Ornithological Station, 12: 81–91. [In Russian].

Kowalke T. 2005. Mollusca in marginal marine and inland saline aquatic ecosystems examples of Cretaceous to extant evolutionary dynamics. Zitteliana, A45: 35–63.

Mageed A.A. 2005. Effect of some environmental factors on the biodiversity of holozooplankton community in lake Qarun, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research, 31: 230–250.

Mansour S.A. and Sidky M.M. 2003. Ecotoxicological Studies. 6. The first comparative study between Lake Qarun and Wadi El-Rayan wetland (Egypt), with respect to contamination of their major components. Food Chemistry, 82(2): 181–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0308-8146(02)00451-X

McElroy M. and Baker D.J. 2012. Climate extremes: Recent trends with implications for national security. Harvard University Center for the Environment. http://environment.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/clim ate_extremes_report_2012-12-04.pdf

Meshal A.H. and Morcos S.A. 1984. Evaporation from Lake Qarun and its water budget. ICEC Journal of Marine Science, 41(2): 140–144. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/41.2.140

Mehringer Jr.P.J., Petersen K.L. and Hassan F.A. 1979. A pollen record from Birket Qarun and the recent history of the Fayum, Egypt. Quaternary Research, 11(2): 238–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(79)90006-1

Naguib M. 1958. Studies on the ecology of Lake Qarun (Fayum, Egypt). Part I. Kieler Meeresforschungen, 14: 187–222.

Naguib M. 1961. Studies on the ecology of Lake Qarun (Fayum, Egypt). Part II. Kieler Meeresforschungen, 17: 94–131.

Neale J.W. 1988. Ostracods and palaeosalinity reconstruction. In: P. De Deckker, J.P. Colin and J.P. Peypouquet (Eds.). Ostracoda in earth sciences. Elsevier, Amsterdam: 125–155.

Nicoll K. 2004. Recent environmental change and prehistoric human activity in Egypt and Northern Sudan. Quaternary Science Reviews, 23(5): 561–580. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2003.10.004

O’Reilly C.M., Alin S.R., Plisnier P.-D., Cohen A.S. and McKee B.A. 2003. Climate change decreases aquatic ecosystem productivity of Lake Tanganyika, Africa. Nature, 424: 766–768. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01833

Sabae S.Z. and Ali M.H. 2004. Distribution of nitrogen cycle bacteria in relation to physicochemical conditions of a closed saline lake (Lake Qarun, Egypt). Journal of the Egyptian Academic Society for Environment Development (D. Environmental studies), 5: 145–167.

Shadrin N.V. 2014. Mollusks in the changing Black Sea ecosystem. In: G.E. Shulman and A.A. Soldatov (Eds.). Black sea mollusks: elements of comparative and environmental biochemistry. EKOSI-Gidrofisika, Sevastopol: 9–21. [In Russian].

Shadrin N.V. and Anufriieva E.V. 2013. Climate change impact on the marine lakes and their Crustaceans: The case of marine hypersaline Lake Bakalskoye (Ukraine). Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 13: 603–611. https://doi.org/10.4194/1303-2712-v13_4_05

Shadrin N.V., El-Shabrawy G.M., Anufriieva E.V., Goher M.E. and Ragab E. 2016. Long-term changes of physicochemical parameters and benthos in Lake Qarun (Egypt): Can we make a correct forecast of ecosystem future? Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems, 417: 18. https://doi.org/10.1051/kmae/2016005

Shafei A. 1960. Lake Moeris and Lahun Mi-wer and Ro-hun: the great Nile control project executed by the ancient Egyptians. Bulletin Society Geography d’Egypte, 33: 187–215.

Shiganova T., Mirzoyan Z., Studenikina E., Volovik S., Siokou-Frangou I., Zervoudaki S., Christou E., Skirta A. and Dumont H. 2001. Population development of the invader ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi, in the Black Sea and in other seas of the Mediterranean basin. Marine Biology, 139(3): 431–445. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002270100554

Smol J.P., Wolfe A.P. and Birks H.J.B. 2005. Climate-driven regime shifts in the biological communities of arctic lakes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102: 4397–4402. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0500245102

Smith E.A. 1908. On the mollusca of Birket el Quarun, Egypt. Proceedings of the Malacological Society, 8: 9–11.

Soliman G.F. 1991. Observations on some physical conditions of Lake Qarun. In: M. El-Raey (Ed.). Regional Symposium of Environmental Studies (UNARC). University of Alexandria, Alexandria: 588–601.

Wimpenny R.S. and Titterington E. 1936. The tow net plankton of Lake Qarun, Egypt. Notes and Memoirs, 14: 57.

Zagorodnyaya Yu.A., Batogova E.A. and Shadrin N.V. 2008. Long-term transformation of zooplankton in the hypersaline lake Bakalskoe (Crimea) under salinity fluctuations. Morskyji Ekologichnyji Zhurnal, 7(4): 41–50. [In Russian].